Focus on the Global South - India Programme

Focus on India

FOCUS ON INDIA (FOI), Issue: March 2007. Vol. IV. No. 03.

Monday, 19 March 2007 01:17 Sonila Swaminathan

The West Bengal Government has come under fire from both its allies and opponents on the incidents in Nandigram, a village identified for a 10000-acre Special Economic Zone (SEZ). Media reports indicate 15 people were killed on January 14 2007 when over 6000 police tried to enter the village and quell the people's resistance. The incidents in Nandigram provide one answer and raise pertinent questions. It is clear that the SEZ idea will have to go. Can the mainstream Left in India respond to people's protests and aspirations and chart a framework on democratic industrialisation? We hope that the incidents in Nandigram and across the country against SEZs provide a strong message to state governments that pandering to the needs of corporate India under the garb of industrialisation and jobs will be resisted. To endorse the statement, on the Nandigram incident, write to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (see 2.a)

On April 3-4 2007 India will host the 14th Summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in New Delhi. While the summit agenda gives the impression of a typical talk shop it will play a key role in shaping the geo political and economic geography of the region.

FOCUS ON INDIA (FOI), Issue: FEBRUARY 2007. Vol. IV. No. 02.

Monday, 19 February 2007 08:10 Sonila Swaminathan

The verdict on last months Nairobi World Social Forum, held under the banner of 'peoples struggles, peoples alternatives', was mixed. Several attendees consider the event both a success and a failure. Anthony Barnett elaborates on the Forum in a useful article. Also writing from Nairobi, Walden Bello questions whether the Chinese juggernaut in Africa holds great promise or great harm.

In our third article S.P. Shukla makes an intellectual, yet pragmatic attempt at articulating the contours of a National Political Agenda. He identifies the agrarian crisis, alienation of the Muslim minority and assertion of dalits, adivasis and OBCs (other backward castes) as the 3 issues that will dominate the political agenda of the Republic of India for the next few years. He calls for a grand alliance of peasantry, adivasis, dalits, OBCs and Muslims against the elite agenda of globalising growth. Whether his predictions will prove right remains to be seen, but its clear that India's political leaders will have plenty of issues on their plates.

FOCUS ON INDIA (FOI), Issue: JANUARY 2007. Vol. IV. No. 01.

Thursday, 25 January 2007 00:00 Sonila Swaminathan

As we write this, less than 4 days remain for the start of the VI World Social Forum in Africa. Thousands will march towards Nairobi's Uhuru (Freedom) Park on 20 January signaling the beginning of what promises to be a historic 6-day event. Over 100,000 people, including 600 from India, are expected to participate. They will share experiences and strategise on issues ranging from debt, the World Bank, women's rights, climate change, dismantling the powers of Transnational Corporations, trade liberalisation and militarism. Focus on the Global South will coorganise several events with our allies. You will find an exhaustive list of our events in section 1.a and updates will be posted regularly on www.focusweb.org. What would the world be like if it was viewed through the eyes of African women? The Gender and Trade Network in Africa will attempt to answer this question through their events at the WSF (see 1.b)

FOCUS ON INDIA (FOI) Issue: DECEMBER 2006. Vol. III. No. 12.

Tuesday, 26 December 2006 06:35 Sonila Swaminathan

WE WISH OUR READERS A GREAT YEAR AHEAD!

As 2006 draws to a close, and we take stock of achievements and failures, from the point of view of the people of the world it has been an eventful year. At the closure of accounts, we have the defeat of Israel at the hands of the Lebanese people. Another significant plus was the reversal suffered by President Bush and the Republican Party in the US senate elections. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez won a resounding victory (no surprises there) in the general elections paving the way for an intensification of his social revolution. Minutes after his victory Chavez told thousands of supporters braving the rain that 'this is the starting point of Venezuelas road to socialism'.

The Non Aligned Movement (NAM) received a shot in the arm at the Havana summit, but it remains to be seen if Cuba's chairmanship of the 116-member organisation will see it forge an independent political and economic geography in 2007. British Prime Minister Tony Blair reluctantly admitted to blundering in the war on Iraq. On the trade front, the impasse (since July 2006) at the Doha round of negotiations puts a big question mark on the future of the World Trade Organisation. US and EU corporate ambitions on the services and industrial tariffs front are on hold till the deadlock is broken and March 2007 is the expected crunch time. The Annual Meeting of the Bretton Woods twins in Singapore was mired in controversy as prominent critics (including Focus staff) were banned from organising counter events. Global civil society was quick to respond and slammed all 3 culpable parties - the Singapore Government, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Resisting Corporate India - Reclaiming Democratic Spaces

Tuesday, 21 November 2006 06:09 Sonila Swaminathan

RESISTING CORPORATE INDIA - RECLAIMING DEMOCRATIC SPACES

SETTING THE AGENDA

SPECIAL EDITION OF FOCUS ON INDIA

NOVEMBER 2006

This special issue of Focus on India was released during the India Social Forum (9-13 November 2006) in New Delhi. It can be downloaded from www.focusweb.org/india

EDITORIAL

NEW STRUGGLES AND ALLIANCES NEEDED TO REALISE ANOTHER WORLD

In India it’s not business as usual. Economists claim that India is hurtling along the superhighway of growth and audaciously predict that alongwith China, Russia and Brazil, it will be one of the giant economic forces in the coming century. The Outlook magazine recently (November 6 2006) carried a cover story with the title ‘Taking over the World’ waxing eloquent on India Incorporated and how the axis of corporate power is now shifting from Europe to Asia. While there is quite a bit of corporate spin and hyperbole surrounding these prophesies they should not be underestimated by progressive forces. From a business point of view India is firmly on a corporate-led reforms trajectory that seems irreversible – there will be more Special Economic Zones (SEZs), new world class infrastructure in urban areas, super highways, five-star hotels, airports, super markets and shopping malls and less of government intervention in public policy.